Quake shakes southern Canada

(CNN) -- An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.0 struck Wednesday in southern Canada, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The quake struck at 1:41 p.m. ET near the borders of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, about 38 miles north of the city of Ottawa, the USGS said. It was centered about 12 miles deep. The USGS initially assigned it a preliminary magnitude of 5.5.

Ottawa police told CNN that several buildings in the city were evacuated. An operator at the Ottawa Hospital said the quake was felt for about 30 seconds.

Sgt. Marc LaPorte, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told CNN that it was a "slight tremor" and there "doesn't appear to be any damage reported to date yet."